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There’s nothing like being awoken by a police officer at your doorbell. Thursday night/Friday morning, someone felt it necessary to search the inside of my car for my Garmin Nuvi 350 Portable Navigation. Yes, ok, I did leave the mount attached to my windshield… And yes, I usually leave my navigation in the console between my seats. My argument there has been that I’m so forgetful, I end up leaving it in the house all the time and it’s never there when I get lost.

Thankfully, however, my fiancee grabbed it on the way out of my car, because her car had actually been broken into last August for the same reason.

What’s interesting is this: nothing else was stolen. One would think, if you’re going to smash a passenger-side window, you’re going to make it worth your while. When my fiance’s car was broken into in August, they stole the mount stuck to the windshield which cost about $50 to replace. But nothing was missing. They smashed each passenger-side window, opened the glove box and the console, then left. They simply moved aside the $100 radar detector, the removable faceplate of the Pioneer aftermarket stereo, and the EZ-Pass in my car and the external XM radio, Prada sunglasses (fake, but branded as such) and radar detector in her car. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful they were picky, but still, what is the point?

The XM radio and EZ Pass are easy to explain: they require subscription. Once the accounts are suspended, the units are relatively worthless. I don’t understand why someone wouldn’t take something pocket-sized as a radar detector other than ignorance.

So, I just ask myself how this can be prevented. Obviously repairing the morals of society is out of the question. Respect of other’s property and sense of security has gone the way of black-and-white television. I guess the only way would be to make navigation register with a company such as cell phones and XM radio so they can be deactivated rendering them worthless.

I guess I just don’t understand the schoolyard “mine!” mentality. But now I’m out about $200 and a half day’s time trying to make my car secure again.

As the saying goes… at least no one was hurt.

I’ve been making a feeble attempt at having a blog. I don’t know why, I really have nothing useful to say, but I figure since I’m in the whole “web business” I should be publishing my thoughts for those who have more spare time than I to read. So, I’ve written about concerts and video games, two things I enjoy that aren’t work. After sending the article to a few of my friends, one made a comment in passing.. “aren’t you too old for video games?”

Interesting statistics on the topic: Game Player Data

The average age of one who plays video games: 33 years old. Now, this is one source, but seriously, 33 years old.  So I guess the answer would be, no, I’m not too old for video games.

I was born in 1982. The Nintendo Entertainment System was released to the US in late 1985. I’m not sure, but I think my family got a Nintendo for Christmas in 1988. That means for more than 80% of my life I’ve been wanting, begging for, playing, cursing, living and breathing video games. I would consider the NES to be the first true, in-home, engrossing video game system. Before that, things like Intellivision and the Atari 2600 were basically arcade games with no continuity (meaning start game, get to level 3, die, start over). The NES was the one of the relatively affordable systems that, such as The Legend of Zelda, held your spot so you could progress through to different areas (note: I was a Nintendo guy, sorry Genesis fans). The list of games obviously goes on endlessly from there… Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Secret of Mana (one of my favorites)…

For me, after NES was the SNES, then N64, then Gamecube, now the Wii. Goldeneye for N64 came out in my junior/senior year of high school which lead to much unfinished homework. Not only was my life consumed by console games, but there’ve been a myriad of computer games (I’m a big Blizzard fan: Warcraft I, II, III, World of Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, Diablo II.. can’t wait for Starcraft II). So how am I supposed to grow out of this “phase”? I can’t even think of a metaphor for this. Toy trains, Lincoln Logs, Legos… Nothing has the breadth of ages involved as video games currently do. They’ve progressed from simple blocks to 3d worlds and their topics from pre-school training to Animal Crossing to Bioshock to, well, Grand Theft Auto.

I guess for people who missed the video game generation, it may seem childish. Children have been the focus because it was shoved in front of them, much as VHS tapes were, as a sort of digital babysitter. I, never much a movie fan myself, would much rather play video games because video games have become on par with plot lines for Hollywood blockbusters, except I can at least experience, if not influence the outcome.

In my days of World of Warcraft, there were people ranging from those working on their 6th grade math to those who had to stop playing to pick their grandkids up from school. I feel sorry for those tragic stories of people who lacked the self control to stop playing and lost their jobs. But for the average couple who would put their kids to bed and play for a few hours, it’s not like they had no social life… Most of the same people would rot in front of the TV at that time, being fed ads about Lipozene and McDonalds (ironic pair usually found near each other) they can socialize with people down the street or around the globe.

So, screw you and your limited age range for video games. As seen in previous articles, I’m almost through Mario Galaxy, I still play Guitar Hero, I plan on buying Metroid Prime 3, and I will own Starcraft 2 when they finally feel like finishing that up. I just hope they make an arthritis-friendly controller when I’m 80 and trying to beat Mario Universe.